Spending
Where does the government spend your money? FY2026 federal spending totaled $6.87T. Here's the breakdown by category and agency.
Mandatory vs. Discretionary
$4.90T
Mandatory (71.4%)
Set by existing law — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on debt, and other entitlement programs. Congress doesn't vote on these annually.
$1.97T
Discretionary (28.6%)
Decided each year through appropriations — defense, education, transportation, science, and other programs Congress votes on annually.
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Spending by Category — FY2026
Social Securitymandatory
$1.52T22.1%
Medicaremandatory
$1.01T14.7%
Medicaidmandatory
$680.0B9.9%
Defensediscretionary
$886.0B12.9%
Interest on Debtmandatory
$952.0B13.9%
Veterans Benefitsmandatory
$325.0B4.7%
Income Securitymandatory
$415.0B6.0%
Educationdiscretionary
$175.0B2.5%
Transportationdiscretionary
$132.0B1.9%
Health (non-Medicare)discretionary
$125.0B1.8%
International Affairsdiscretionary
$72.0B1.0%
Science & Technologydiscretionary
$45.0B0.7%
Otherdiscretionary
$533.0B7.8%
Spending by Agency
HHS
Department of Health and Human Services
$1.79T26.1%
SSA
Social Security Administration
$1.52T22.1%
DOD
Department of Defense
$860.0B12.9%
TRES
Department of the Treasury
$970.0B14.1%
VA
Department of Veterans Affairs
$325.0B4.7%
USDA
Department of Agriculture
$235.0B3.4%
ED
Department of Education
$175.0B2.5%
DOT
Department of Transportation
$132.0B1.9%
DHS
Department of Homeland Security
$105.0B1.5%
HUD
Department of Housing and Urban Development
$68.0B1.0%
DOE
Department of Energy
$48.0B0.7%
NASA
NASA
$25.0B0.4%
Spending Over Time
Federal spending spiked dramatically in 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic response programs. Spending has remained elevated since.
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